TESL/COMM 5350: Language and Culture Week 1 Pragmatics Prepared by DJ Kaiser, PhD Introduction to Ishihara and Cohen • Theme: interlanguage pragmatics • The focus of this book: the gap between research on pragmatics and classroom teaching practices • Issue: “few teacher education programs seem to deal with the practical application of pragmatics theories” (Ishihara & Cohen, 2010, p, ix) Instructional Practice • This book will focus on how to incorporate pragmatics into classroom lessons: – Curriculum writing and lesson plans – Online pragmatics material (CARLA) – Discourse and interaction • This goes beyond speech acts (covered in a bit) Ch. 1: Coming to Terms with Pragmatics • Pragmatics – it is more than being practical • For Ishihara and Cohen pragmatic ability refers to what you know about pragmatics and your ability to use it properly • This includes: – Receptive (reading and listening) – Productive (writing and speaking) Beyond the Literal • Pragmatic ability requires that we use and comprehend language beyond the literal or dictionary meaning • ELLs and younger learners struggle with this when they take language literally • Pragmatic ability also requires co-construction of meaning and negotiation, which requires that people be on the “same wavelength” Directness • One aspect of pragmatics deals with directness • Speakers in English tend to be less direct, which can cause problems in intercultural communication • Consider “That’s a little loud” vs. “Turn that down” – Which is more direct? Why? Issue for ELLs • Consider the non-committal American invitation of “Let’s get together sometime” • There are formulaic ways people communicate and certain expected things we say that are often not literal • ELLs and younger learners must learn these customs and expectations Speech Acts • In pragmatics there are certain speech acts we perform such as – apologizing – complaining – making requests – inviting – refusing invitations/offers/gifts – paying and receiving compliments – thanking Speech Acts and Performatives • Speech Acts theory along with Performatives come from J. L. Austin, a philosopher (not a linguist) • Most famous for his book How to do things with word (published posthumously in 1962) • While other intellectuals who focused on language were interested in ideal language (what language could or should be), Austin focused on everyday language Performative Verbs • Performative verbs do something • Use the “hereby” test: • I hereby banish you from this kingdom. • *I hereby throw you out of this bar. • The classic performative is “I now pronounce you man and wife (or spouses for life)” Analyzing Performatives and Speech Acts • Austin’s three-fold distinction (Ishihara and Cohen do not attribute this to Austin): • Locution – the actual meaning (think literal meaning) • Illocution – the force or intention behind the words (think purpose) • Perlocution – the effect of the illocution on the hearer (think reaction) >>In-Class Discussion<< Think of a phrase that you might say that does not explicitly mean what it literally says. Quickly analyze the locution, illocution, and perlocution of this utterance. Example: “The music is very loud.” Locution – the music is at a high volume Illocution – the speaker wants someone to turn the volume down Perlocution – someone turns the music down Speech Act Sets • There is no one way to perform certain speech acts, but rather multiple strategies to choose from • This set of possibilities creates a speech act set • Learners need to be familiar with this range and know when to use which strategies in which situations to maximize efficiency Example: Apologizing • Imagine if you taught your learners that in order to apologize, all you do is say “I’m sorry.” • Is this appropriate in these cases? – You forgot to water a friend’s plant and it died – You took the last vegetarian lunch not knowing someone else had ordered it special for him/her – You were supposed to drive your friend to the airport, but you overslept Speech Act Strategies for Apologizing Ishihara and Cohen list five strategies 1. Expression of an apology 2. Acknowledgement of responsibility 3. Explanation or account 4. Offer of repair 5. Promise of non-recurrence Different cultures may expect specific strategies in specific situations Activity • Situation: You have showed up late. How do you apologize? 1. You are late for lunch (address a friend) 2. You are late for a meeting (address your boss) 3. You are late for a meeting (address someone who works for you) Ways to Analyze a Situation 1. Social Status – the relative social status of the speaker/writer to the listener/reader 2. Social Distance – the relative familiarity, (in)formality of the relationship, or intimacy 3. The intensity/severity of the act (or size of imposition) – how serious is the issue or the relative value of the request Learners Need to Analyze Context • A big part of context for pragmatics is analyzing: – Social status – Social distance – Intensity/severity of act • How can you approach this with learners? Social and Cultural Norms • Social Norms – “explicit or implicit rules for when something should or could be said and the manner in which it would be expected to be said” (Ishihara & Cohen, 2010, p. 12) • Cultural Norms – including “traditions, customs, beliefs, values, and thought patterns” (Ishihara & Cohen, 2010, pp. 12-13) Pragmatic Norms • “A range of tendencies or conventions [emphasis added] for pragmatic language use that are not absolute or fixed but are typical or generally preferred in the L2 community” (Ishihara & Cohen, 2010, p. 13) • Does ALM support this? • Does CLT support this? Pragmatics and Language Instruction • Learning a language requires learning the pragmatic aspects • Consider Communicative Competence (Hymes, 1970; Canale & Swain, 1980) • ELLs and younger learners need to learn what is pragmatically appropriate in order to be competent and successful speakers Ch. 2 – Teacher’s Pragmatics: Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practices • Issues: – Teachers bring their own approach to the classroom – Experienced teachers may rely too much on experience/intuition and not on research-based methods – Traditional ALM books and methods teach one or two formulas without fully analyzing context Activity • In groups brainstorm ways to teach the following speech acts: – Compliments/Responses – Refusals – Requests • Come up with as many formulas, strategies, approaches, etc. as you can Intercultural Communications Assignment • Each week, write two interview questions that are designed to solicit specific information about the person you are interviewing about the topic of intercultural communication. • Each question must relate directly to the week’s course readings in Martin and Nakayama. • Each question must identify one specific bold-faced term from Martin and Nakayama and the page number in the newest edition of the text where that term appears. – Example: “How do people in your country deal with conflict? Do people tend to be more direct or more indirect when addressing issues of conflict? (conflict, p. 436; direct approach, indirect approach, p. 443)” Pragmatics Assignment • Due Sunday by 9:00 PM on Canvas • See Activity 1.1 and either evaluate this activity or through synthesis create a new activity (note that synthesis is not copying or modifying, but rather creating something new and original). If you create a new activity, write a paragraph or two to describe your decisions. This assignment should be 1-2 pages in length. Refer to the rubric in the syllabus or in Canvas for more details.
